Yes, it's true--Lauren and I finally got our braces off today. I've been on cloud nine all day; no more grayness on my teeth, thank God! I feel much better now that I have those things off. Plus, I have two permanent retainers so I don't have to have a removable one that I have to put in every night. I don't want the responsibility of hanging on to one of those, and I'd more than likely forget to put it in, so permanent retainers are awesome. Ah, nice smooth teeth.

Like Lauren said, I got my Deadwing CD by Porcupine Tree last Monday, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. It's definitely much heavier than their past albums, and I noticed that Lava Records is marketing it like crazy; much more people are aware that this album exists than I had expected. The first single "Shallow" is even on a sampler CD for some store at the mall. But anyway, fantastic album, beautiful melodies, Mikael Aker-whatshisname--great, great, great. Worth the wait, I'd say. If you want to read a well-written review of the album, just go here.

As for Nine Inch Nails's new album With Teeth . . . not so great. I mean, it's not bad, but God, Trent--you made me wait six years for a mediocre album? There are some good tracks on there, such as "The Hand that Feeds," "Every Day is Exactly the Same," and some others that I can't remember at this time, tracks like "With Teeth," the album's namesake, make me want to turn the thing off. I mean, how in the world did Trent think that song was good? And is it just me, or is he over-enunciating nearly everything he sings? Kalan and I were listening to the album in the truck after I bought it, and both of us were confused to hear Trent shouting "Wi-tha Tee-tha!" over and over again in that song. Normally, I could let an album like this slide if NIN released albums regularly, but they don't, and if I have to wait six more years for something so-so, I will not be a happy panda. It just feels like Trent was very lazy with it--like he just wanted to get a CD out.

But, anyway. I would chat more, but the relatives are coming tomorrow, and the apartment must be scoured sterile. I hope everyone can make it to graduation; I know Jon and Rachel are definitely coming, and I'm waiting on an answer from Geimer, but I need to know if Junior can. And I'm pretty sure Peter's comin' down for Josh, so we'll get to see him again! I'm looking forward to it. Okay, I'll talk later.